Device for gripping and securing railway rails



March 27, 1934. F. FIANDER 1.952,

PEVICE FOR GRIPPING AND SECURING RAILWAY RAILS Original Filed Sept. 29, 1932 m Fig.5;

Patented Mar. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFEQE DEVICE FOR GRIPPING AND SECURING RAILWAY RAILS Renewed January 31,

1934. In Southern Rhodesia November 16, 1931 5 Claims.

This invention relates to a device for gripping and securing railway rails.

The object of the invention is to eliminate the creeping movement of railway rails in a simple and inexpensive manner.

The invention comprises a chair for receiving the foot of a rail, and a pair of tapered and curved keys arranged one on each side of the rail and interposed between the web of the latter and the jaws of the chair.

The invention also comprises other features to be hereinafter described.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a device constructed according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, and

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation of the rail chair on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

In the drawing, a indicates the rail chair which receives the foot of the rail 22 (shown in dotted lines) and can be either cast or forged from metal capable of withstanding vibration or impact shocks within reasonable limits. The chair a is formed with jaws a and a which overhang the lateral extremites of the rail foot and terminate in smooth convex gripping surfaces spaced apart from the web of the rail. Into the space between each of these gripping surfaces and the rail web there is driven a tapered and curved key 0 made of metal having sufficient elastic properties to provide for a certain amount of resiliency in the keys.

These keys 0, which have the same degree of curvature as the associated gripping surfaces of the jaws, are arranged with their thin ends pointing in the direction of rail creep so that the tension produced by any creeping movement of the rail b tends to increase the wedging action of the keys by drawing them more tightly into position, the curvature of the keys causing the Wide ends to be forced inwards and the inside faces to grip the rail web more firmly.

To prevent undesired relative movement between the rail 1) and the keys 0 when the latter are in position, the faces of the keys contacting with the rail web are milled, scored, or otherwise suitably roughened. The key faces contacting with the jaws a, a are on the other hand left smooth so that relative movement bet-ween the chairs a and the keys 0, due to movement of the latter with the rail, is not unduly obstructed. These latter key faces, however, are not machined in any way.

As will be seen from the drawing the outer faces of the keys 0 and the gripping surfaces of the jaws a, a are sloped from the bottom to the top towards the centre of the rail b, thus avoiding the possibility of the keys being jerked out of position due to impacts imparted to the rail or to any part of the gripping and securing device hereinbefore described.

The surface of the chair a upon which the foot of the rail 2) rests is made slightly convex, as shown at d in Figure 3, in order to conform to the wave or bend temporarily set up in the rail by approaching trafiic, thus increasing the frictional resistance opposed to the creeping movement of the rail and thereby reducing the strain on the jaws of the chairs.

The markings enumerated 0 to 3 on the keys are provided for gauge varying purposes, the keys being positioned so that corresponding markings thereon register with arrows marked on the associated chair jaws as shown.

It will be understood that the structure of the rail chair may be varied to suit requirements, for instance it may consist of two metal clamps arranged one on each side of the rail and bolted on to the sleeper in the case of iron sleepers, or to a sole plate where wooden sleepers are in use.

Furthermore, the device according to the inven tion is suitable for use with all flat bottom railway rails.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to' secure by Letters Patent is:-

l. A device for gripping and securing railway rails, comprising a chair having a recess for accommodating the foot of a rail, jaws on the chair, and a pair of tapered and curved keys arranged one on each side of the rail and interposed between the web of the latter and said jaws.

2. A device for gripping and securing railway rails, comprising a chair having a recess for accommodating the foot of a rail, jaws on the chair, and a pair of tapered and curved keys arranged one on each side of the rail and interposed between the web of the latter and said jaws, which s jaws have a similar degree of curvature to said keys.

3, A device for gripping and securing railway rails, comprising a chair having a recess for accommodating the foot of a rail, curved jaws on the chair, and a pair of tapered and curved keys arranged one on each side of the rail and interposed between the web of the latter and said jaws, which keys have roughened faces in contact with the rail web.

5. A device for gripping and securing railway rails, comprising a chair having a recess for accommodating the foot of a rail, a slightly convex surface formed in the wall of said recess for supporting the rail, curved jaws on the chair, and a pair of tapered and curved keys arranged one on each side of the rail and interposed {between the web of the latter and said jaws.

FREELAND FIANDER. 

